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I am a life long crafter. As kid I was "artsy" as an adult
I guess I still am. Fundamentally I like to create things
and started this blog not only as a way to share ideas
and connect with other crafters, but as a way to make
sure I'm at least little crafty each day. After all, if you
have a craft blog but no crafts- what the heck are you going to talk about!

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Aside from the normal monthly Cupkins post- today Joanne and I have bonus 4th of July themed posts.

Each year I get more and more into celebrating the 4th (beyond just going to watch the annual fireworks). I've definitely gotten into baking something special and have even started to think about doing a little decorating out on the porch. Normally I've done some sort of dessert but this year I though it would be fun to start the morning off with a little red, white and blue.

I came up with a few ideas I liked and was having a hard time deciding what to go with so... I just decided to post all three.

First I've done a red, white and blue layered muffin.

The red and blue layers are made by adding strawberry and blueberry puree to the muffin batter.

Second is what I like to call a fireworks muffins-

It also uses the same technique of adding fruit purees but instead of layering the batter you mix it up.

And Third, I've made a stars and stripe muffin.

The stars are made from berries cut into the shape of a star and the stripe is a layer of berries added to the middle.

The recipes and berry star cutting technique are below.

And be sure to click on the Cupkins logo below to check out Joanne's perfectly patriotic cupcakes- are't they pretty! (These would look great on a picnic table).

• Extra milk and flour- this is for getting the 3 batters to the same consistency.

• Optional- red and blue food coloring.

(To make the puree I just ran fresh fruit through the mini food processor.)

Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl, then add the egg, milk, apple sauce and oil. Mix just until ingredients are incorporated. Separate batter evenly into three bowls. Add the strawberry puree to one, the blueberry puree to the other, a dash of vanilla goes into the last bowl.

If you want to add food coloring to get a truer blue and red go ahead. For my layered muffins I went with just fruit. The fireworks ones I added a few drops to get more vibrant colors.

Mix each of the colored batters until the fruit is incorporated. Hold off on mixing the white batter- It's very

important if you want to achieve layers that you get the three batters the same consistency. You'll definitely need to add more milk into the white batter. You may also have to add either milk (to thin) or flour (to thicken) one of the fruit batters, it all depends on how watery your fruit is. You want to end up with a nice thick batter- not to watering. (You'll want to spoon the batter into the muffin tins not pour.)

Spoon the batter into each muffin tin first the red, then the white and top with blue. Bake at 375 degrees for about 22 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

If you want the fireworks version of the muffins:Add a little milk to the white batter to make it closer to the consistency of the fruit batters but don't worry about getting all three to the same thickness. Spoon batter in however you like (you can also swirl it around a little with a skewer). Bake at 375 degrees for about 22 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.